AMC Health News

VA “Goes Live” with Newest Home Telehealth Solution

NEW YORK, NY – October 29th, 2018 — 1Vision LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of HMS TECHNOLOGIES, INC., and their telehealth partner AMC Health, recently announced its nationwide home telehealth program has “gone live” with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). In February of 2017, 1Vision was awarded a 5-year Indefinite Delivery Quantity Contract with a maximum value of $258,668,957 to provide home telehealth solutions to the VA, and in June of 2018, received the Authority to Operate (ATO) ahead of this national rollout.

VHA is the largest integrated health care system in the United States, providing care at 1,243 health care facilities, including 172 VA Medical Centers and 1,062 outpatient sites of care of varying complexity (VHA outpatient clinics). In FY 2017, more than 9 million Veterans were enrolled in the VA health care system and 727,00 patients were provided care via the three telehealth modalities. This amounted to over 2.18 million telehealth episodes of care. The VA’s Home Telehealth Program relies on telehealth platforms from commercial contractors classified by the VA as Medical Device Data Systems.

To ensure successful onboarding as well as patient and clinician engagement, sites are being offered virtual and on-site training on the telehealth software offerings. These learning activities are important because historically patients have used “tethered” or cabled peripherals (i.e. scale, or blood pressure device) attached to a hub unit. Now with 1Vision’s use of Bluetooth® technology, the peripherals can support wireless connectivity allowing more natural use such as using a scale in the bathroom, as opposed to the living room.

“Historically, the VA’s home telehealth offering relied on devices that were expected to be available for the life of the contract,” said Bill Kirkpatrick, Chief Executive Officer of HMS TECHNOLOGIES, INC. and Managing Director of 1Vision, LLC. “We are now witnessing very rapid changes in technology that provide greater convenience and are available at lower cost. As a provider of home telehealth for VA, we can work collaboratively with VA to offer the optimal commercial off the shelf (COTS) products that best support Veterans and their families. After serving as a member of the Air Force for more than 20 years, it is an honor to be on a number of federal contracts, including VA Telehealth and VA T4 Next Generation as a means to ensure that Veterans are able to receive access to services using the state-of-the-art technology and services.”

“We are honored to be a part of this nationwide rollout of home telehealth to Veterans,” said Dr. Lisa Roberts, President, Government Division for AMC Health. “My exposure to the potential of telehealth was during my VA MIRECC fellowship over 15 years ago, and being able to support the VA in their continued leadership of evidence-based virtual care has been deeply rewarding.”

By using AMC Health’s telehealth CareConsole® platform, Veterans will be able to automatically transmit information including vital sign measurements such as weight, blood pressure, and blood glucose levels, as well as condition-specific information to the CareConsole platform using Bluetooth-enabled devices from the comfort of their own homes. CareConsole is powered by a sophisticated analytics engine that alerts the Veteran’s Care Coordinator to emerging health issues or concerning trends, ensuring prioritized outreach before small clinical issues become potential clinically significant problems. With this solution, Veterans will have the opportunity to bolster their independence and gain convenient access to health care.

About 1Vision LLC

1Vision, a wholly owned subsidiary of HMS TECHNOLOGIES, INC. (HMS), is a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) with a goal of providing superior IT and Program Management solutions throughout the Federal Government, focusing on offices within the VA. Toward this end, we provide knowledgeable experts to collaborate with client stakeholders, tailoring enterprise-wide IT services solutions that best fit the needs of the end users. 1Vision has core competencies in key areas such as privacy and security within the federal landscape, with a focus on ensuring protected health information is secure.

1Vision has been certified by the Center for Verification and Evaluation (CVE) as a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business.

About AMC Health

For over 15 years, AMC Health has led healthcare transformation through the use of virtual technologies. The company is the leading provider of real-time virtual care solutions. Its FDA Class II cleared platform, end-to-end services, and clinically proven solutions enable healthcare organizations to securely extend their services beyond the four walls of the hospital and ambulatory clinic settings. Providing cost-effective population health management, the company’s ever-expanding ecosystem delivers scalable virtual care programs for health systems and payers, connecting to more than 200 devices, apps, and integrations via a single connection. AMC Health’s peer-reviewed published studies highlight clinical improvements for conditions like heart failure, diabetes, and hypertension, resulting in reductions in hospital admissions, and solid financial return on investment. For more information, visit www.amchealth.com.